SCT Crop and Create Delivered Cardmaking Fall 2022 featuring Your Next Stamp

For the past few years, I have been "attending" Scrapbook and Cards Today Crop and Create Delivered Cardmaking virtually. Ever since Covid, many craft companies took to the internet to host their various paper crafting events. I absolutely loved this because at a time where it was not safe to go anywhere, I could still feel like I was crafting WITH people by participating in these events online. It also opened the doors to new events I had never attended previously, such as SCT Crop and Create Delivered and Taylored Expressions' Stamp Joy. Both are my favorite virtual events! Of course, now that things are a bit safer now and masks aren't necessary, I love attending my typical yearly craft event, which is the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Edison, NJ. I've been going to that event for at least 4-5 years now, although I missed it the past two years due to Covid and lack of funds.

Early last year, I decided that I would participate in another Crop and Create event for the Fall. I purchased my registration and was set to go. Many things changed last year... I left my jobs, I got pregnant, and we moved into our first house. I had to have my Crop and Create package forwarded to my new address. Despite having the package and all materials for the classes, I really wasn't feeling well enough in my pregnancy to participate in the actual event. The nice thing about these events is that they keep the videos accessible on FB. So long story short, now that I'm feeling better, I've had my baby, we've gotten through the first few months of new parenting... my crafty mojo has come back, and I've been ready to craft!

As you may have seen in previous blog posts, I started first with SCT's Let's Stamp Together card kits. I began pulling one at a time and completely the corresponding cards, plus some additional ones. Now, I've begun pulling classes from Crop and Create that I never got to complete one at a time and completely those corresponding cards. I've had SO much fun catching up and creating again! I'm beginning to feel like myself again... which says a lot, because I felt like I really lost myself within this last year.

The first class I began with was from Your Next Stamp. I thought the stamp set they included was adorable and the cards were very pretty with the ink blending. This was actually considered a mini-class and not one of the main classes of the event. However, I couldn't wait to complete them.

The first card I created had a rainbow background using distress oxide inks and blending brushes. 3 colors were used to get the rainbow effect that include pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Next was stamping out the hot air balloon stamp and coloring it in with alcohol markers - I used Copics. I pretty much followed the directions for making this card without altering the design. I popped up the stamped image after I die cut it and inserted it into the "snow globe" die cut. I added some popped up clouds and enamel dots for embellishment. I cut the card panel out using a rectangle die from Simon Says Stamp called "Wonky Rectangles" - one of my favorite dies to use for adding some additional interest to my background panels. I added a thin black matte to finish off the background and adhered that to a white top-folding card base.

The second card was pretty much the same except with a slightly different design. I decided to stick with the original design and pop my images up using foam tape rather than die cutting a hole from the front card panel. The only thing different about this card is that I used blues and greens rather than rainbow colors.